SERP it!

Google Search advertising is an incredibly important traffic strategy in the search engine marketing (SEM) world. Ads appear when triggered by specific search terms and advertisers only pay when someone clicks on their ads – which is why it is also known as a pay-per-click or PPC advertising system. For zero clicks, advertisers do not need to pay, and they receive free impressions. People might wonder why they need to pay for keywords when they are already ranking well organically. The truth is: there is no perfect traffic channel – each one has its own advantages. It should be made known that more than 50% of online sessions start with a search engine!

Benefits of Google Search Ads:
1. Instant – fast traffic generation method
2. Cost Effective – pay only when ads are clicked
3. Wide Exposure – 8/10 web sessions start at search
4. Relevancy – ads show up for targeted keywords and geography only
5. Controllable – full control of campaign budget
6. Measurable – reports on performance & ROI
7. Higher Conversions – targeted & relevant
8. Target by Demographics – target by age, gender, income
9. Discover New Keyword Ideas – Find new and valuable keyword opportunities.
10. Quickly Test Effectiveness of Headlines and Descriptions – Find out which ones can achieve a higher CTR the faster way.

Google Search Ads has improved over the years from the previously known Google AdWords. Probably the biggest change is the leveraging of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. This is expected to help marketers automate many tasks that used to be completely manual.

However, like all optimisation engines, they need to be fed data points and without sufficient data points, your campaigns could get messed up.

Therein lies the challenge for the leisure advertiser who wants to run search ads without in-depth understanding how it works; because to really see performance, there is more than just choosing keywords and constructing nice ads. What kind of knowledge and abilities does an advertiser need to maximise their results on this platform? And how to do it in an efficient manner that is effective from a time and cost perspective?

Today, advertisers can run ads not just on keywords alone, but you have the option of defining your audiences. They could be actively searching (in-market audience) or affinity audiences meaning they have interest in your topic. You might want to test these groups of audiences. Another exciting thing is the ability to target based on income.

Nowadays, some people are just lazy to type in a URL, many would just google the company name and click the first link they see. The problem comes when the first link is not the organic result for the company they are trying to reach, but a competitor who chose to bid on that company’s name as a keyword. Therefore, companies must defend their brand names in the search engine result pages and not let their competitors siphon off their traffic! By the way, it is perfectly legal for someone to buy another company’s brand name as a keyword to be used in one’s ad. This is how to convince a business owner to invest good money in PPC ads, even when they are already doing well in SEO.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do we prioritise Search Ads over Display ads?
The primary reason is performance. Especially when our clients have limited marketing budgets, the maximum return on investment is via the search network and focusing on capturing searcher intent. This is made possible with the high degree of control we have in Search Advertising!

How much does advertising in Google cost?
The cost-per-click (CPC) varies across different industries and depends on the competitiveness of the niche. Keywords that are known to be profitable will usually attract high competition and as more advertisers bid for that same keyword, the cost-per-click should be higher than a low or even medium competition keyword.
You can simply perform a Google search to see how many advertisers are going for that particular keyword – more advertisers mean more competition. To get more details, leverage the Google Keyword Planner to get estimates of top page bids and paid search competition for each keyword.
In Singapore, one can expect to pay an average of $1 to $2 per click for advertising in the Google Search Network. Display Network CPCs are typically lower, but you can get higher conversions and more value for your money in search advertising because ads can be set to target the intent of the searcher. Display campaigns should be kept separate from Search campaigns so advertisers can see which segment has a higher return on investment and hence worthy of further scaling.


Where do Google search ads show up?

In Google SERPs, text ads can appear above or below the organic search results. In Google Play, Shopping tab and Google Maps, ads can appear above, below or beside search results.

In addition, ads may appear with search results on websites of Google search partners (if you include Google search partners during your campaign setup). 

Any impact of the ‘mobile-first’ policy?
Google has long adopted a mobile-first policy. It’s the reason why right-hand side ads were taken away. There used to be seven ads on the right-hand side with three on top, and if it didn’t show on top, it would display on the right-hand side. With the right-hand side taken away, the number of ads in the search engine result page was reduced. Logically speaking, to maintain revenues, prices must go up to make up for fewer ads.

Any difference between mobile and desktop?
Some advertisers may choose to increase their bids on mobile and decrease the bids in desktop. Or advertisers can choose a different URL for mobile. This is a human aspect, and normally there should not be any differences. When everything is constant, the ad serving should be the same on mobile and desktop.

What is a good ROAS (return on ad spend)?
It varies from business to business because ROAS is top line, where we are looking at revenues versus ad cost. Profitability will depend on your cost of goods and other expenses.
If it is a digital product where your cost is negligible, you can make profits even with a low ROAS. If you have a physical business where you need to pay rent, staff salary and retail expenses, you need a higher ROAS.
Assuming a retail business, you need to aim for 3:1 or 300% ROAS (at least getting $3 for every dollar you spend) to break even. At ROAS of 500%, you should already be in the profitable zone. If you still struggle to make profits at 500% ROAS, it means your operational costs versus your pricing and revenues are out of sync, and you seriously need to change your cost structure. Normally, I would consider a 500% ROAS as decent.

One of the greatest and most dependable
digital advertising platforms today for all types of businesses, including
non-profit organisations, is Google Search Ads. It allows your company to contact all
different types of individuals worldwide and offers a variety of crucial
information available for crucial decisions.

Rated 5 Star ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Mr Lim of Singapore